Market assessment to identify potential outcome payers for clean cookstoves and fuels

Finance for energy access is not on track to meet universal energy access objectives by 2030. A recent SE4Alll policy paper showed a multi-billion-dollar investment gap for what is needed to fund clean cooking: annual residential clean cooking investment needs are by one estimate at least $4.4 billion per year (IEA, 2015); however, trackable residential clean cooking investment in 20 high-impact countries averaged just $32 million a year in 2013-14.

The purpose of the market assessment is to participate in market creation by assessing supply and demand.

Project certification confirms that a project has followed best practice and provides the ability to report on a project's climate and development impacts. Projects wishing to monetize or sell specific climate or development impacts for financing, as in carbon markets or through results-based finance structures, can go further by proving financial need for the delivery of certified sustainable development goal (SDG) impacts and by following an official methodology approved by the Gold Standard.

Gold Standard for the Global Goals is a holistic, integrated standard to quantify and certify impacts toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Under this standard, clean cookstove projects can apply methodologies to certify a range of impacts – from the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to contribute to climate security, gender equality, health outcomes, poverty reduction, and more.

A Certified SDG Impact Statement quantifies the amount of black carbon and other SLCPs reduced from an intervention in a given year. A project and its funders may claim to have financed Black Carbon Equivalent emission reductions from improved cookstove technologies or clean burning fuels. This represents a contribution to meeting the Paris Agreement as well as Sustainable Development Goal 13 by financing a direct and quantifiable impact on climate change mitigation that is monitored, verified and certified by a recognized organization. In their communications, project developers may also describe the contributions to the SDGs that the project they supported has also delivered.

With the support of the Climate & Clean Air Coalition and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Gold Standard led a market research study to gain insights on what certified impacts sustainability-minded organisations are interested in supporting, how those impacts should be packaged and what claims they would like to make. This will help Gold Standard and its partners further develop Gold Standard for the Global Goals and help drive funding to clean cooking technologies.